Taulia Tagovailoa Set to Participate in Seattle Seahawks Rookie Minicamp

Formerly starring at Maryland, Taulia Tagovailoa will have to take an unconventional route to earn a spot in the NFL, starting with a tryout with the Seattle Seahawks.

Oct 7, 2023; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Maryland Terrapins quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa (3) drops to / Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports

Aiming to follow the footsteps of his brother Tua Tagovailoa, Taulia Tagovailoa will take his first crack at earning a contract on an NFL roster in the Pacific Northwest.

According to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network, Tagovailoa has accepted an invitation and will participate in rookie minicamp with the Seattle Seahawks next week. To this point, he and former San Jose State quarterback Chevon Cordeiro, who reportedly signed as an undrafted free agent on Saturday, are the only two quarterbacks that have been linked to the minicamp.

A unanimous four-star recruit coming out of Thompson High School in Hawaii, Tagovailoa initially joined his brother in Tuscaloosa as a backup quarterback at Alabama, completing nine out of 12 passes for 100 yards in limited action. Without an opportunity to play moving forward, he transferred to Maryland in 2020 and started four out of six games in a COVID-shortened season, earning Honorable Mention All-Big Ten honors with 1,011 passing yards and seven touchdowns.

One of the most productive quarterbacks in Big Ten history, Taulia Tagovailoa will try to impress as a tryout player at Seahawks rookie minicamp. / Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Emerging as the most prolific quarterback in Terrapins history, Tagovailoa tossed for a school record 3,860 yards and 26 touchdowns while nearly completing 70 percent of his passes in his first full season as a starter in 2021. Over the next two seasons, while he didn't quite approach those same single season numbers, he garnered Second-Team All-Big Ten honors while setting a new conference career record with 11,256 passing yards and threw 76 touchdown passes.

Tagovailoa also added 945 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground over the course of his collegiate career, showing some dual-threat capabilities and escapeability while averaging north of five yards per carry.

Despite his numbers and athleticism, Tagovailoa didn't receive an invite to the NFL combine and after not testing at his pro day workout, he didn't hear his name called at last week's draft in large part due to his lack of size and a propensity for turning the ball over. Standing only 5-10, he struggled at times sensing oncoming pressure and took a large number of sacks as a result. He also threw 37 interceptions in four seasons at Maryland, primarily having issues pushing the ball downfield with average arm strength at best.

After Seattle opted not to draft a quarterback last week, Tagovailoa and Cordero could be competing for the third quarterback spot on the roster heading into OTAs behind starter Geno Smith and recently acquired backup Sam Howell. It's possible another quarterback could be thrown into the mix before rookie minicamp starts on Friday at the VMAC.